this is why you should care only. major cities in western iraq a show of strength not seen since their battles with u.s. forces a decade ago we look at who these insurgents are and how they became so strong. while in syria al-qaeda linked rebels and other opposition groups are engulfed in bloody infighting the forthcoming peace talks are under threat from the growing divisions among those aiming to topple assad. approval ratings for leaders to an all time low as a handful of bloc members face economic hardships tough times are being met with some people in the countries adopting new currencies. these kind of food which tend not to money. doubting that the government always

acts in their best interests more people are starting to view supplementary currencies as an alternative to the euro. and playing it safe concerns are growing about how athletes and visitors will be protected at russia's upcoming winter olympics in sochi to see what is being done to secure the olympic host city . broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our team recapping our week's top stories i'm john thomas glad that you with us. now al qaeda affiliated militants have been occupying key areas in iraq's anbar province for over two weeks tanks have been deployed in the provincial capital ramadi and the army hasn't been able to drive insurgents out of nearby flues either militants haven't had such open

control in major iraqi cities since the u.s. led invasion in two thousand and three parties going to church can look at why they are gaining strength. young. with whom. they run on chaos emboldened by the fighting in syria these al qaeda linked militants overran parts of iraq including the city of the literature we have said earlier about the serious story and will actually go into iraq and this is what we were warning about chaos in neighboring syria deep as the u.s. and its allies threatened the syrian government sending the signal to the rebels to fight on to the detriment of the political outcome islamic schools have now taken over the opposition movement there and have even chased the western backed leader of the free syrian army out of the country to be honest you the relieve it along because if you kick it they're going to come out and bite you and that's what we

did when we invaded iraq you know three and it can bite not just somewhere far in a war zone but here in the u.s. american intelligence and counterterrorism officials now say islamic extremist groups in syria with ties talk to recruiting and training americans who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home there are dozens of extremist islamist forces that are operating both inside syria and over the syrian borders walk has been a breeding ground for extremists since the u.s. is now residents of other parts of the country are bracing themselves for the iraqi army's assault as it attempts to drive militants out of seize areas the u.s. is supplying hellfire missiles and other weapons to help the iraqi government in the fight the last thing for needs is more missiles we heard the u.s. government say they decimated al qaeda is that in the groups that continue their cause expand and what they thrive on best is chaos the u.s.

backed chaos to iraq and in syria washington support for armed opposition has benefited extremists in washington i'm going to. barkley. the jihadists entrenched in iraq's western province are from a group called the islamic state of iraq and the levant a u.s. military publication says the organization expanded its influence significantly last year and now boasts over five thousand members it was formed back in two thousand and four a year after the u.s. led invasion of iraq began the sunni extremists were initially known as al qaeda in iraq after pledging allegiance to the infamous organization the group's leader said this summer that its goals are to tear down the border between iraq and syria and destroy both governments many of its members are fighting against president assad in syria and the group says that they have carried out a suicide blast in lebanon just a couple weeks ago anders care god is a former danish intelligence officer who served in iraq he believes that al qaeda

is a strong as ever and that iraqi security forces are overmatched. in my opinion. has never been on the run it might have been downscaling due to pressure but once this precious lifted the organization is back in full force and it uses these. pulses to regain its bring the fighting ability of these the isis for instance is very strong but very contained. to localized battles and one thing. isis and the rebels has is is them and at it they want to continue fighting and the iraqi army really hasn't got a chance to fight these militias. and to alter reddick eight them meanwhile in neighboring syria the strengthening of al qaeda linked groups has led to growing infighting between one's allied rebels fierce clashes between rival opposition factions have killed at least seven hundred people this week according

to the syrian observatory for human rights almost one hundred of them are believed to be civilians who were executed by militants from the islamic state of iraq and levant now the outbreak of a war within a war has prompted some western politicians and others who previously rooted solely for assad's removal to change their stance here is just some of the latest statements former cia director michael hayden said that the assad regime is beginning to look alike of the lesser of all evils the former u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan ryan crocker agreed that assad is not as bad as the jihadi s. russia has long been warning of the threat some opposition groups in syria pose foreign minister sergey lavrov has welcomed the realisation of this in the west so infighting within the ranks of the syrian rebels is threatening the russia u.s. brokered peace conference that is due in less than two weeks time the world's top diplomats are in paris right now to pressure syria's main opposition group of the

syrian national council into taking part meanwhile u.s. secretary of state john kerry has already expressed his confidence that the council will participate in the peace talks but journalist john white believes that the s. and c. lost its status on the ground a long time ago. it seems clear that they're saying see very little credibility on the ground they can deliver nothing on the ground over the rebel factions or what associate you. see or most of them and we have to fake it to other groups so the us administration is increasingly desperate to try and call together some kind of syrian opposition and they can do business with but this city in a position itself to sit in national council no really only exists to save city hall and it only exists jute sure the u.s. action that so this is increasingly seems like a field process that is about to hit the ball. the past five years it could hardly

be called the good times for leadership it has seen it public support and confidence in lawmakers diminishing and eventually hitting record lows the data comes from a new regional poll now a study suggests the tumbling approval rating is linked directly to the budget cuts and economic woes take spain for instance where public support is drastically low or even ireland which has it just successfully exited its bailout program despite that the aftermath of the e.u.'s austerity demands is still driving the numbers down the euro skeptic u.k. used to top the critics list with only around a third actually back in brussels now it's even lower than that dropping the below thirty percent. disappointed with some of the economic solutions proposed by lawmakers some citizens are taking the matter into their own hands and are turning to alternative currencies artist maria financial went to visit the creators of

a new local currency in paris which is out of the reach of the wheelers and dealers on the stock market. these colorful really tangible notes and not just money but they have a real value you can go shopping with these bills in your wallet. at the restaurant . the idea of alternative also called complimentary currencies that people of businesses agree to use for transactions within a particular area a district quarter were just a street may look like something from a kid's game but the reasons behind it are far from child's play. per partick first prodding of local currencies stay within the region develop clock ticks a second that ideological you have a lot of confidence in official conversations and people want to have something they understand that they can control and that they can trust not just something that is printed you don't know how with new control and leads to speculation

alternative forms of money have a history as trashing back decades and appear to be growing in popularity especially tough financial times on the reason enough of a man splay a lot with money and often risky games but it beyond your vids a ordinary people have to pay for mistakes and losses this is why people want to have a currency that they will be sure will serve them and not go somewhere in a school paradise as a global finance system so minus the strings maced famous headline grabbing turn to currency is the digital bitcoin but there are dozens of others and he's worldwide in france europe's second largest economy people exchange services and goods via at least twenty different types of complimentary currencies and their numbers are growing. a lot of their peace lane is behind one such project the one probably outside paris she says she never considered paying with anything other than laborers until the advantages of an alternative became clear to me was america not

as it would be euro is that is that for me not just a mode of exchange but it also became a mode of speculation to feed banks one local currency and support local projects and develop a real economy on the ground which means it works for us the people. now because restaurant is part of the project and with a flower shop and then any supermarket it is. here. that are people in the world of finance that will nothing else but to make people who are all for their own brand why should we allow them to do that this sticker indicates this restaurant accept cash the red means of fishing a peach in french but also energy and the slogan was i will replace your c.v. is used to express someone is in good health and full of energy which the local currencies here in france certainly seem to be experts claim complimentary currencies will never replace an official one however if trust is undermined it

hard enough in conventional money people may start looking for a different type of change. from france. iran and the six world powers have announced the date when they will officially begin implementing the nuclear deal reached in november on january twentieth tehran is said to start scaling back its atomic program the process is said to be completed in a half a year period that the agreement covers in response of four point two billion dollars of iranian assets will be unfrozen in several stages despite this agreement the push for fresh sanctions is gaining new supporters in the u.s. congress president barack obama has already stated he will veto any such bill should one be passed some experts though. i think that western powers have many reasons to be looking forward to iran's reintegration into the world economy. the fact of the matter is the reason there's this to with there's two factions we've

got the the military pro-war israeli factional one side that could never have peace with iran no matter what and then you have the fact that the world the west and the world needs iran they need the liquidity from petrochemical exports they need trade there's a stack of global stagnation economically right now and opening up iran into the world trading theater is going to do a lot to increase trade and obviously move money around the world and goods and services back and forth at a time when it's much needed so there's two to cancer battling it out one to keep iran closed and other council would like to see it open for trade. is a natural resource more precious than oil and it is so scarce in certain areas the middle east that it could spark major conflicts in the program but we look into how the lack of water could become a tipping point in a number of already volatile regions plus.

japan is becoming a fertile ground for the far right with nationalists calling for the country to regain self-respect and reassert its presence stories and much more just after a short break you're watching our take. tens of thousands of police officers are carefully monitoring access to a limpid venues and transport hubs that is what security is like in such a right now a surprise to host russia's first ever winter games in three and a half weeks r.t.l. scott toured the resort city to see what else is being done to protect athletes and spectators. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore the to defeat the. i as soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago i. question the choice of post city such as close proximity to the volatile caucasus region was they argued

a cause for concern. and the recent twin terror attacks in volgograd summer seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers say security has been their main priority since day one from the very beginning of the construction phase the state that. made those with months to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screen in all their old materials checking in all the venue and preparing incredible measures of the security to provide this safe environment here with less than a month to go now until the games begin tight security measures are already in place around forty thousand police and security offices are expected to be on patrol sales of dangerous hunting equipment a bond for the duration of the games there's also a controlled stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers

inland and encompassing all venues. in terms of security so it is a special case because this area is authorized to visit this only there are security details from a number of countries including the u.k. and us working for you it's. on those security forces will be coming together to protect places like this is the brand new purpose built train station in the olympic village is going to be one of the main transport hubs during the games moving thousands of spectators with the bulk of the work now complete with all venues and transport networks built and tested so she is. now just waiting for the sporting world to descend. altie. the u.k. is a battling a new wave of floods the extreme weather has turned some areas into islands flood alerts are in place across the nation in motion section of our website we've got footage and all of the details for you. plus metros around the world saw scores

of people in their underwear taking part in it no pants subway ride day the annual event began twelve years ago in new york and is spread globally you can head to our dot com for the full story and of course photos. to people have been killed and twenty injured after a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying police recruits in afghanistan's capital kabul the taliban have admitted to carrying out the assault a militant group gaining the strength of remains a major concern especially ahead of the upcoming withdrawal of nato troops scheduled to be completed by the end of the year american officials underline that it is crucial for security in the country that some of its forces remain in afghanistan beyond that date for president karzai is refusing to sign the deal that would make that possible the latest reports from top u.s. negotiators saying it is unlikely the pact will be sealed before afghanistan's

presidential elections former british lieutenant colonel richard williams says it is crucial that the country starts dealing with internal problems on its own. i built a shit what we tried to achieve peace to set the conditions whereby an afghan government that can deal in a norm on the way which will be groupings involved including the taleban if there is conditions to say that it should be here then what we're likely to see be a compromise between what kabul one. what the taliban wants which will see afghanistan model along over the next period of time perhaps the next ten years but then can it be any great strategic victory if we want to call it that or any great strategic outcome oil and gas conflicts will be superceded by water wars in the future that is the warning from experts as the world's population grows access to

clean water resources is rising in price let's take a look at this map where you can see the blue dots mark the places where conflicts over water disputes have broken out since the nineteen fifties these include small protests as well as more serious large scale clashes there have been one hundred seventy eight disputes in all and of the number of hotspots is actually rising in particular the struggle for water in the middle east is a key issue in some ongoing conflicts but it's all a slayer reports. the bible tells us that within a short distance from here jesus turned water into wine two thousand years later the great american might be turning the wine back into water bubby carballo has been living in the golan heights for over thirty years each day he attends to his many arden orchards keeping his wine in a center that was once a syrian bunker he is proud of the wine he produces but knows that in the absence

of water none of this would be possible i don't know if i should leave the water is important because it's the second main resource that we have other than the lamb who. needs water and without it you will destroy all the crops and destroy all the farming here you can turn the golan heights into exaggerated and it's not just about the golan heights rainwater from its catchment feeds into the river jordan providing a food of israel's water supply the disputed region was seized from syria after the six day war and residents of the golan remember that water was a key issue in the conflict and one of the stands here understands the importance of the work that all the water supply of israel because every door was very mean. it's prone to the security of the so we can say that it is a must will. respect the resolve to have all over it's what the fox says it's a worldwide rule that whoever controls the water controls the land but the problem

is in some cases these various water to go around feeling you have the common waterfalls shared by several foreign nations is always a possibility of clash of religious conflicts that should be manageable was put out of control and examples of possible conflicts are plentiful syria's major water sources travel through turkey and iraq making it vulnerable while jordan is reliant on a river with syria bill today egypt. also recently expressed concern of a countries using the upper now to generate electric power in the dry landscape of the middle east water is a prize more precious than diamonds in its absence famine and drought are quick to follow but this is a region that very seldom needs an excuse for war and water shortages might just tip the balance here r.t. in the golan heights. middle east affairs or journalist of del darwish thanks

politicians and willingness to share vital resources is pushing the world towards new conflicts. as the population grew and as agriculture grew older was. to ease when did you reach the fish with a live in the pond that would be if the idea i was exploring a while. back the rivers or water resources should. pave the cat to follow the usage of this what you wish for that the cows for what you wish for and what you wish for apology of the nation and see each other by making the dollar or pound or whatever and then we quantify it into more co-operative projects but we don't give you a human nature and nature of politicians i probably not very optimistic in senegal port authorities in dakar have promised to provide food water and medical treatment

to the crew of a russian fishing vessel they were caught up in a weeklong diplomatic spat over the seizure of the trawler the ship with eighty two crewmembers on board was taken by force after being accused of trolling in the country's coastal waters but with no official explanation from the car bosco has called it an act of piracy greenpeace stepped in and sided with senegal provoking russia to accuse the african countries government of acting on a tip off from the environmental group for now russian diplomats are undertaking steps to assist the vessel with obtaining it's believed that liberation and departure but a senegalese official has demanded russia pay a fine for the release of the ship. take a look at some other news making headlines around the world protesters in thailand are gathering in bangkok in an attempt to shut down the capital officials have sent eighteen thousand police and soldiers into the city as anti-government demonstrators have built barricades and are occupying the streets they claim the

prime minister is a proxy for her brother a former pm who now lives in exile the protesters are demand. country's leader step down and hold elections. police in egypt have fired tear gas at supporters of the ousted president mohamed morsi during clashes at cairo's main universities one thousand protesters have been detained and several injured in a fresh outbreak of violence comes just two days before he planned a vote on a draft constitution. least twenty one people have been killed and dozens injured in explosions in military clashes across iraq the capital baghdad was hit with two car bombs the worst blast targeted the morning commuters in a popular bus station killing others nine islands has been on the rise in iraq in recent months the aging levels not seen since two thousand and eight. nationalist voices are getting louder in japan far right groups are calling for a stronger country with a tougher immigration policy and

a beefed up army artie's alexy found out that the angry rhetoric is raising some difficult questions. it's become a tradition in japan when some foreign officials are subjected to verbal abuse on this particular occasion japanese nationalists made their feelings known loud and clear to russia's foreign minister china and south korea have also been in their crosshairs one for an island dispute the other for sending too many labor migrants to japan you know the latest protest korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated because this man is one of those behind the nationalist qualities in japan he says he'd like to see japan a more closer sight no nor there was an openness and we've been to open to the world and now foreigners come here and commit crimes i want us to return to pre-war period where we were closed and self-sufficient despite criticizing the government for its immigration policies the movement could not be feeling more coffeetable

since twenty twelve when she and so are there was reelected as prime minister that such rallies have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting the stick from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country for becoming on the far right these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultranationalist regulations in schools. should be made as an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes i told my pupils part of who were not even japanese and it wasn't obligatory to stand up and then i got fired but it's not only about instilling national pride speculation is rife that with all this stronger japan hype is eager to amend the nine hundred forty seven constitution namely article number nine which braves japan from having any kind of army other than for defense purposes. in the increasingly intertwined world we can

ensure the peace of our nation without proactively taking a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take steps forward on the issue of constitution amendment but not everyone is buying it a more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there's been talk among high profile politicians including former prime ministers on launching a public debate on whether japan should have nuclear weapons and it never materialized but it's something that the ruling elite has been pondering for years now and non-pacifist japan let alone a nuclear power would send shock waves across the region say experts but for now even with nationalist voices getting louder polls suggest that such ideas are still some way from becoming reality six of a shift you ought to be reporting from just back. worlds apart with acts on a boycott is after the short break you're watching r t international stay with us.

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people. hello and welcome to worlds apart one of the largest ethnic groups without a state kurds have long been both the victims and the active.